Empowering women in pastoral societies

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

The World initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP) has released a report that showcases best practices on pastoralist women’s empowerment. Authored by by Fiona Flintan on behalf of WISP, the report focuses on pastoralist women from pastoral communities across the world.

Photo: IUCNJonathan Davies

Pastoralist communities are a group largely misunderstood by society. More so, when reading about women in pastoral communities it is common to find reference to their marginalized roles, their hardship, their oppression and their lack of power as opposed to men’s power and ownership, as well as associated patriarchal relations.

However, pastoral women are extremely strong and powerful people. The report has shown that despite the many challenges women face, they do find ways to ensure that the household’s basic needs are met. They also find ways to access resources and get their voices heard. Within the pastoral system, the women have ‘rights’ to ownership and use of many of the resources.

The World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP) is a global advocacy and capacity building network that promotes sustainable pastoral development for both poverty reduction and environmental management. WISP consists of a Project Management Unit (based at IUCN ESARO), a Pastoral Advisory Group (PAG), a Partners Coordinating Committee, a global electronic network of over 2000 members (WISPnet) and various partners working on specific knowledge management themes.